A Clifton Heights man has been charged with attempted murder after a confrontation on a narrow street allegedly ended with another driver being stabbed several times.
Police charged Anthony Williams Jr., 45, of the 200 block of Cambridge Road, with first-degree attempted murder, aggravated assault, simple assault, possession of an instrument of crime and reckless endangerment, according to a criminal complaint.
Officers were called to West Washington Avenue and South Church Street at 6:53 a.m. on Sunday after a stabbing was reported. They found a 33-year-old man with multiple stab wounds to his shoulders and abdomen. Police radio traffic showed officers asking inbound medics to hurry to the scene.
The man was fading in and out of consciousness before he was taken by ambulance to Lankenau Medical Center, where he underwent surgery for his wounds.
At the hospital, the victim told police he had been driving in the 200 block of West Washington Avenue when he pulled up behind a black crossover SUV stopped at the stop sign at South Church Street. The SUV did not move on, and the street was too narrow for him to pass, he said.
He sounded his horn, got out and knocked on the driver’s window, but received no response from the driver, who was alone in the vehicle. After a short time, the SUV driver became conscious and began speaking with him, before getting out in an agitated state. A struggle followed.
During the struggle, the victim said he was pulled into the door of the SUV. He then went back to his own vehicle intending to call police. The SUV driver got out again, saying “what’s up, what’s up,” while advancing toward him, the victim told police.
The victim said he was stabbed in the abdomen before running toward the passenger side of his vehicle to escape. The SUV driver chased him around the vehicle and stabbed him twice more in the shoulders, he said.
The victim eventually broke free and retreated to a side yard, where he saw the attacker holding a common pocket knife with a blade of 3 to 4 inches in his right hand, according to the complaint.
The black SUV was seen by the victim and at least one witness heading south on South Church Street toward West Broadway Avenue.
Investigators showed the victim an eight-person color photo array, and he identified Williams without hesitation, police said. According to the complaint, Williams owns a black 2024 Mazda CX9 with New Jersey plates.
Williams was arrested in Philadelphia on Tuesday morning and had not yet been arraigned at the time of the report.
The details were reported by Upper Darby Now, based on the criminal complaint filed by Sgt. Ryan Berry.
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